'CWD is a threat': Oklahoma wildlife officials to increase monitoring for deer disease

State wildlife officials say they will increase surveillance for chronic wasting disease after a road-kill deer found in the Texas Panhandle near the Oklahoma border tested positive for the neurological illness.

The deer carcass was found along a Texas road about 2.5 miles south the Oklahoma border and near the western Panhandle town of Felt, Oklahoma. The CWD positive deer was found in an area of Texas with a history of CWD detection dating back 3 years.

Because of its proximity to Oklahoma, state wildlife officials are treating the discovery as if CWD was within the state.

"That is close enough that it activates our response plans," said Micah Holmes, assistant chief of information and education for the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. "We are going to treat this deer as if it was in Oklahoma and start a special surveillance area."

State wildlife officials plan to increase surveillance and testing of road-kill deer and elk near Felt to see how prevalent chronic wasting disease is in the area. They also might ask Oklahoma deer hunters in the area to submit samples of their harvested deer for testing, Holmes said. Oklahoma's big game archery season opens Oct. 1.

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CWD is a fatal, neurological illness that occurs in North American cervids (members of the deer family). Since its discovery in 1967, CWD has spread to 30 states and two Canadian provinces.

It is transmitted freely among deer and elk. CWD is transmitted directly through animal-to-animal contact and indirectly through contact with objects (including carcasses) or environment contaminated with the infection.

There has been no known documented transmission of CWD from deer and elk to humans and livestock. However, in areas where CWD is known to be present, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that hunters strongly consider having those animals tested before eating the meat. The CDC does not recommend eating meat from an infected deer.

The disease attacks the brains of infected deer, elk and moose and causes the animals to become emaciated and die. It does not effect pronghorn antelope which reside in the Panhandle.

CWD has yet to be found in free-ranging deer or elk in Oklahoma. As part of its annual herd health study, each January and February state wildlife officials send tissue samples from Oklahoma's deer herd to an out-of-state lab to test for CWD and other diseases.

The disease has not been detected in laboratory testing of tissue samples from more than 10,000 wild deer and elk from throughout Oklahoma since routine testing began in 1999.

"It doesn't mean it's not here," Holmes said. "It just means we haven't detected it yet."

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In the past, CWD has been found in two captive elk herds in the state. It has been confirmed in wild cervids in every state surrounding Oklahoma.

The fear is that CWD could spread quickly through an area where deer are densely populated. That might not describe the number of deer in the Oklahoma Panhandle, but the disease could cause major harm if it were to spread through the more densely-populated deer regions of central and eastern Oklahoma.

Deer with CWD develop neurological issues are much more likely to get hit by vehicles, Holmes said.

"We are taking it very seriously," Holmes said. "CWD is a threat to the health of the deer herd. We are not overreacting. It's found in 30 states. It is found in every state around us, but it's nothing to overreact to."

To help prevent the spread of CWD, three years ago state wildlife officials passed regulations that required out-of-state hunters to clean an animal carcass before bringing it back to Oklahoma.

Those rules require that no animal quarters or meat brought into Oklahoma contain any spinal materials. The same is true for a skull with antlers.

"When folks are hunting out of state, they need to clean those deer out of state before bringing them into Oklahoma," Holmes said.

There is no cure for CWD.

"As far as eradicating or treating it, there is nothing that we know of yet that can do that," Holmes said.

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Drawings for OKC duck blinds

Drawing for duck blinds at Lake Stanley Draper and the Stinchcomb Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma City for the upcoming waterfowl seasons will be held Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Lake Stanley Draper Marina.

The drawings will begin at 1 p.m. at the marina's concession stand.

Hunters must be age 18 or older to participate and possess an Oklahoma City hunting permit at the time of the drawings. Permits can be purchased in advance from authorized vendors or on site at the Lake Draper Marina.

A copy of the blind site locations and hunting regulations will be posted at the drawings.

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Learn to bow hunt

The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation will host a Zoom class on deer archery hunting Wednesday at noon.

The class will focus on the basics of archery deer hunting. To enroll, visit https://gooutdoorsoklahoma.com/ and click on the events tab. For more information, contact Kasie Harriet at kjoyner@nwtf.net or call (918) 629-4991.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma wildlife officials plan to increase scrutiny for deer disease